Air quality likely to worsen in next few days due to stubble burning

Air pollution levels in Delhi are likely to increase in the next few days as neighbouring states, such as Punjab and Haryana, have begun stubble burning.

Now that the rains and strong winds have stopped, the national capital will witness air pollution rising, said Dr Ravi Kant Pathak, a scientist and professor at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, told media while addressing an event at IIT-Delhi.

"It is estimated that Delhi-NCR will witness a rise of 30-70 per cent in pollution levels in coming days as the next crop season is approaching fast, and the farmers will burn the stubble as soon as it dries," said Dr Pathak.

He said one solution to stop stubble burning would be to collect all the crop residue from farmers and utilise them as biofuel to generate electricity.

"The other and more sustainable way will take a lot of time, including mulching the stubble in the farms to make the soil rich. However, since there is not much time in the next crop season, it is quite tricky," Dr Pathak was quoted as saying by India Today TV.

On Wednesday, Delhi reported the season's first episode of fog, which lowered visibility levels to 350 metres in some parts of the capital, PTI reported. Locally generated pollutants and moisture pushed the air quality in the city from the "satisfactory" category to the "moderate" category.

The 24-hour average air quality index stood at 143. It was 66 on Tuesday and 44 on Monday, 48 on Sunday, 56 on Saturday and 55 on Friday.

The air quality is likely to deteriorate to the poor category by Saturday.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.